Container for aseptic packaging of fluid food products



R. D. FINLEY ETAL 3,542,567

Now., 24, i970 CONTAINER FOR ASEPTIC PACKAGING OF FLUID FOOD PRODUCTS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 18, 1965 N @l Nw lNVENTORS ROY D.FNLEY JAMES D. FLANGAN ELDRED vv. BOWEN @l n )fly ATTQHN man@ w 0( m mlmm OmXUM m3 mlzmgm )Paten-ted Nov. 24, 1970 3,542,567 CONTAINER FORASEPTIC PACKAGING OF FLUID FOOD PRODUCTS Roy D. Finley and James D.Flanigan, Greenville, Ill., and Eldred W. Bowen, Brentwood, Mo.,assignors to Pet Incorporated, St. Louis, M0., a corporation of DelawareOriginal application Mar. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 440,829, now Patent No.3,301,043, dated Sept. 10, 1968. Divided and this application Apr. 29,1968, Ser. No. 738,742

Int. Cl. B65d 25/00 U.S. Cl. 99-171 4 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Aflexible walled container for aseptically packaging fluid food productshaving a detachable sealed segment holding a representative sample ofthe container contents. The segment is heat sealed from the rest of thecontainer such that it may be removed for testing without contaminatingthe remainder of the container contents.

'This application is a division of application Ser. No. 440,829, ledMar. 18, 1965, noW Pat. No. 3,301,043.

This invention relates to a process of and apparatus for asepticallyfilling a sterile disposable package with a sterile food product. Thisinvention further relates to a flexible walled package containing asterile food product, and to a process of aseptically filling the same,and removing a sample portion without opening the sealed package.

Heretofore it has been impractical to fill a disposable flexible walledpackage with a sterile fluid under aseptic conditions. While it iscommon to aseptically can liquids in sheet metal containers, the presentinvention provides a method of filling a sterile iiuid food product intoa presterilized flexible walled container in an aseptic environment.

The present invention specifically relates to the packaging of a sterileice cream mix into a fiexible plastic bag which is filled under asepticconditions. Many states have stringent laws restricting the sale of icecream mix and similar products, and particularly restricting the timewhich the products may be stored because of numerous spoilage problemsin the usual non-sterile product. The subject sterile product may bestored for many months and the food product is still maintained insterile condition.

In commercial practice, it is essential to test sterile food products todetermine if the product is, in fact, sterile. A statisticallysignilicant number of samples must be tested to give the resultsreliability. In a typical lot of 500, 30 to 60 should be examined tocomprise a significant number. Destructive sampling of such a largefraction of the product is rvery expensive, particularly When theindividual packages are of large volume. Present testing methodsinherently require that the sterility of the package be broken to make atest and thus expensive product is ruined. Accordingly another principalobject of the present invention is to provide a package containing asterile food product and a means for providing an attached removablerepresentative sample which, when detached, does not impair thesterility of the remainder of the product in the package or of thesample.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings herein like numbers refers to like partsWherever they occur:

FIG. l is a diagrammatic respective flow diagram of the presentinvention;

FIG. la is similar to FIG. l but showing the chamber in greater detail;

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. l but showing a side view;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sample food package;

FIG. 4 shows the sample portion detached;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the detached sample;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a germ culture package used to test thesterility of the empty packages; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a pour spout with foil cover attached.

FIG. 1 is a liow diagram of the present process and the various stepsare set out in the blocks. Various details of the process steps will beexplained in greater detail hereinafter.

FIG. la shows the bags being stacked in the chamber which subsequentlyis sealed, sterilized, vented, filled with sterile air, product contactsurfaces sterilized, and readied for operation (FIG.l). The separatelysterilized mix is passed to a timed switch rvalve 10 Iwhich delivers theproduct alternately to two filling nozzles 11 positioned in a sterileenclosed chamber 12. The sterile mix is passed to the valve 10 from apositive displacement pump (not shown) at a liow of approximately 6gallons per 26 seconds. The product is at a temperature of approximatelyF. the lower temperature being limited by the dew point within thechamber in order to avoid condensation on the surfaces of the pipes, andthe upper temperature being limited by the liash point of the productbeing filled. The valve 10is timed to alternate approximately every 26seconds, since 6 gallons packages are conventionally filled in thechamber 12. The timing; and delivery rate, of course, vary with the sizepackage being filled and the designed flow rate of the process. However,since the product is metered by a positive displacement pump it isimportant that the iiow through the valve 10 not be interrupted.

The sterile mixture may be prepared by any conventional method accordingto the particular product and the type of sterilization conditionspreferred by the operator. Using an ice-cream mixture, conventionalprocessing techniques are employed including mixing, standardization,pre-heating, HTST sterilization, and homogenization which involvesheating to about 300 F. for about 3.8 seconds. Other sterilizationtechniques are satisfactory, and different conditions may be used -forother food products.

The chamber 12 is provided with operator arm holes 13 to which areattached arm length rubber gloves 14 by means of which the operator canreach into the chamber 12 and manipulate a sterile bag 15. The bags 15are stacked in the chamber 12 and the operator manually attaches thebags 15 to the fill nozzles 11. After a bag 15 is filled, the operatordetaches the bag 15 from the first filling nozzle 11 and moves it to aheat sealing assembly 16, where a seal is applied to the pour spoutopening on the bag 15. This assembly is shown in co-pending Bowenapplication, Ser. No. 418,723, now Pat. No. 3,425,887 which is herebyincorporated into the present specification.

The operator then attaches another bag 15 to the first filling nozzle11, so that when the bag 15 attached to the second filling nozzle 11 hasbeen filled, the valve 10 will automatically switch the flow of fiuidfrom the second lill nozzle 11 back to the first fill nozzle 11. Thesealed filled flexible container 15 is passed through a sterile trap 17onto a platform 18 and thereafter placed in a suitable paper boardshipping container.

The chamber 12 is maintained with a sterile environment by the passageof sterile air under about one-half to three inches of pressure (Water)and a temperature of about 60 to 80 F. The air is sterilized by heatingit to approximately 600 F. The air is cooled before it is passed to thechamber 12.

The liquid in the trap 17 is tap water having about fifty tofour-hundred parts per million of chlorine. This provides a bactericidalliquid seal and insures sterility. Another advantage of the sterile trap17 is that sterile tools in sealed packages can be passed from outsidethe chamber 12 through the trap or lock 17 to the workman manning thegloves 14 to repair the inside of the chamber 12 without affecting itssterility. This is irnportant, since it is diflicult to sterilize thechamber 12 and this avoids much interruption of the process flow thatmight otherwise occur. The chamber 12 is provided in its lower most partwith an exhaust valve 20, which operates as a check valve and permitsany water or product which may accumulate in the chamber 12 to beexhausted.

The chamber 12 and bags 15 are pre-sterilized prior to operation. Asufficient supply of bags 15 is stacked in the chamber 12 through a door22 and germ culture packages 23 are interspersed in the stacks of bags15. The chamber 12 is free of moisture and doors are placed over thewater trap 17 and glove parts 13 prior to sterilization. Ethylene oxidegas or other suitable sterilizing gas is applied to the chamber 12 for 3to 15 hours (preferably 6 to 8) to sterilize the chamber 12 and itscontents, including the bags 15. A minimum of 385 milligrams of pureethylene oxide per liter of contents (unit volume of container) is addedto the chamber 12. There is no free water in the ethylene oxide.Moisture in the form of dry steam is introduced into the chamber tomaintain 20 to 60% relative humidity and uniform chamber temperature ismaintained at 60 to 120 F. and preferably at 80 to 110 F. Withpolyethylene bags, 125 F. is about the maximum temperature, althoughwith polypropylene the gas can reach 250 F. The higher the ternperature,the faster and more effective is the sterilization action of theethylene oxide.

The germ culture packages 23 comprises lter paper having one millionbacterial spores per disc, and two discs per package 23 (the disc isabout 1/2 inch in diameter). The discs are sealed in a plastic bag whichis of the same material as the bags 15 to be filled. Approximately iivetest packets 23 are used per thousand bags 15. The bags are presumed tobe sterile when all bacterial spores in the test packets are killed.

Before the filling operation starts the chamber 12 is exhausted ofethylene oxide by pulling a 26-inch vacuum on the chamber i12. The armhatches 13 and the water trap 17 are covered. After the ethylene oxideis exhausted, the chamber 12 is lled with sterile air. This cycle isrepeated again to assure al1 the ethylene oxide has been removed fromthe chamber 12. During filling, the sterile environment is maintained bythe flow of sterile air through the chamber 12 as hereinbeforediscussed.

The heat Sealers 16, the tape rolls 29, and the ll nozzles 11 areoperated by air cylinders which use sterile air which is exhausted intothe chamber 12 to further insure sterility.

The preferred container 15 is of 4 mil polyethylene and is singleWalled. It has been found that double walled bags tend to inflate duringthe previously described evacuation and refilling process.

The seal 29 is of foil backed polyethylene.

Packages are randomly selected from each days production for statisticalevaluation of sterility. The packages are incubated for 72 hours at 80F., after which they are agitated by shaking and sampled as hereinafterdescribed.

The sample 19 is formed by applying a double heat seal to one corner ofthe bag. Thus, the sample portion 19 has a sealed edge 24 and the bag 15also has a sealed edge 25. To remove the sample 19, a cut is made (shownby the broken `lines 26 in FIG. 3) between the sealed edges 24 and 25.Thus, a small, sealed sample representative of the entire contents ofthe primary package can be removed without impairing the integrity andvalue of the primary package. Thereafter a corner of the sample 19 issevered with a sterile hot wire and the sample product can be removedwithout contamination for inoculation into nutrient broth with furtherincubation to determine sterility and for direct microscopicexamination.

Another advantage of the present package is that a reclosable feature isprovided, so that the purchaser, after opening the sealed package, canreclose it if all the product is not used immediately. The rigid pourspout 27 is provided with threads 28 so that the purchaser, afterremoving the heat-sealed over-wrap 29l can apply a screw cap to resealthe container 15. Other types of closures can be used, such assnap-caps, friction caps, etc.

Other forms of openings in the containers 15 can be used instead of therigid pour spouts 27, although these are presently preferred.

In addition to ice cream mix, other fluid or semi-fluid food productswhich can be aseptically packed, such as milk, evaporated milk, cream,fruit juice, tornato puree, etc., are suitable for use in the presentprocess.

Thus, it is seen that the present invention provides aseptic fillingprocess and production which achieves all the objects and advantagessought therefore.

Thus invention is intended to cover all changes and modications of theexamples of the invention herein considered for the purpose of thedisclosure and does not constitute departure from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A food package comprising:

(a) a flexible walled container,

(b) a pour spout attached to the container,

(c) a seal covering the pour spout opening,

(d) sterile uid food product in the container,

(e) a detachable sealed segment of the container holding arepresentative incubated sample of the container contents, and,

(f) means for detaching the sample without contaminating the remainderof the containers contents.

2. The package of claim 1 wherein the package walls are of 4 milpolyethylene and the sample is separated from the remainder of thepackage by a heat seal.

3. The package of claim 2 wherein the pour spout is a rigid polyethyleneand the seal is metal by which it is a polyethylene coating on thesurface by which it is attached to the pour spout opening.

4. The package of claim 3 wherein the pour spout has screw threads onits outer surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,759,656 8/1956` Abrams.

3,162,539 12/ 1964 Repko.

3,163,544 12/1964 Valyi.

3,255,907 6/1966 Eddy 21S-4() FRANK W. LUTTER, Primary Examiner W. L.MENTLIK, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 206-46; 220-20 2223530 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,542,567Dat-ed November 24, 1970 Inventor(s) Roy D. Finley, James D. Flanigan &Eldred W. Bowel It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

In the paragraph under the title, the patent number shoulc read"3,501,043" and not "3,301,043".

In Column l, line 25, the patent number should read "3,501

and not "3,301,043".

In Column 4, Claim 3, line 2, cancel "a" and substitute therefor "of",after "metal" add "foil" and cancel "by which it is" and substitutetherefor "having".

Signed and sealed this 27th day of April 1 971 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M..FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents

